J&K govt says those seeking separate statehood for Jammu are running Pak agenda

SRINAGAR: The Omar Abdullah govt on Monday came down heavily on demands for granting statehood to Jammu and its separation from Kashmir, terming it a “Pakistani and ISI agenda”.

Alleging that those pitching for Jammu to be made a separate state were “playing into Pakistan’s hands”, deputy chief minister Surinder Choudhary said such people “cannot be true Indians”. “From the tribal invasion of 1947 to the 36-year-long militancy, Pakistan’s only aim has been to separate Jammu from Kashmir,” he told reporters in Jammu.

“Those who genuinely believe in India would want Jammu and Kashmir to remain united. They would also wish for Ladakh to rejoin J&K. This is the state (now UT) for which we have shed our blood. We do not want it to be divided,” Choudhary added.

“National Conference has given sacrifices for J&K and it will never allow anyone to separate Jammu from Kashmir,” he asserted.

This is the first emphatic response from the elected govt after a section of BJP politicians raised the separate statehood demand earlier this month. Former minister and BJP MLA Sham Lal Sharma claimed that the people of Jammu were more “nationalistic”, and that the Hindu-majority region was facing discrimination at the hands of “Kashmir-based rulers”. He said he had first raised the demand way back in 2010, when he was a minister in then Congress govt.

Senior Congress member Lal Singh on Jan 8 backed the demand, arguing that smaller states improve governance and development. “Ladakh was made a separate entity and it did not affect anything. The only issue is that there should not be any break from the country,” he said.

Peoples Conference leader Sajad Lone was the first Valley-based leader to react on the “divide” between the two regions. Referring to demands raised for shifting of the proposed National Law University from Budgam to Jammu, Lone on Jan 14 said: “Maybe the time has come for an amicable divorce. This is not just about development. Jammu has become the proverbial stick to beat Kashmiris with.”

On Monday, PDP president and former CM Mehbooba Mufti also waded into the debate, saying the Pir Panjal region, comprising Rajouri and Poonch, and the Chenab Valley, comprising Doda and Kishtwar, should be carved out as separate divisions of Jammu and Kashmir. She, however, rejected the idea of “separate statehood” for Jammu.

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